1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reader/writer apparatus for an optical memory card which reads and/or writes data from and/or into the optical memory cards and, more particularly, to a reader/writer apparatus for an optical memory card provided with a card holder for holding and transporting the optical memory card.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Recently, card-type optical memory media have come into the limelight, replacing magnetic cards or IC cards, and various forms of optical memory cards have been proposed. However, they have not yet been put to practical use. This is because the reader/writer apparatuses developed heretofore have never been simple and handy. To promote widespread use of the recording media of this type or to generalize them, it is crucial to develop readers/writers, especially readers which are reasonable in cost and reduced in size and weight.
In reader/writer apparatuses of known kind, a holder holding an optical memory card is moved linearly in a certain direction, for example, in a longitudinal direction (assumed as an X-axis) of the optical memory card and an optical system of a reading/writing head is moved in a direction (assumed as Y-axis) perpendicular to said longitudinal direction for carrying out reading/writing scanning.
However, in known reader/writer apparatuses, generally, a Y-axis moving mechanism including a guide frame and a drive and a reading/writing head including an optical system and an adjusting drive are mounted on a holder holding an optical memory card. With this arrangement, a considerable weight is applied to the holder and therefore, the holder is required to have a mechanical strength or rigidity durable against the weight applied thereto. Thus, the holder is inevitably bulky and heavy. As a result of this, a guide frame for an X-axis movement should also be durable against the weight. This, in turn, requires a drive of a large power output for driving the holder. Thus, the entire drive mechanism is bulky and heavy.
For these reasons, it is quite difficult for the reader/writer apparatuses as described above to be handy and portable. Moreover, the inertia will be large because of large weights of the moving parts and therefore, the stop/start control becomes difficult, reducing the accuracy.
The present invention has been made to obviate the problems described above, and it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a reader/writer apparatus for an optical memory card which has a card holder provided with a transporting mechanism for transporting the optical memory card separately from a moving mechanism of a reading/writing head, so as to significantly reduce the weights of the respective movings mechanisms and the size and weight of drives thereof, to make the entire system easily portable and the inertia of moving parts thereof to be reduced to facilitate accurate stop/start control.
The optical memory card, to which the present invention is applied, may store data in various ways and, for example, a laser beam may advantageously be utilized to store the data with a high density. In this case, the positioning of a reading/writing head in the reading or writing is required to be more accurate than in the case of a conventional magnetic card or IC card.
The positioning means may comprise fixed guide members parallel with the longitudinal direction of the card as in the fixing of the magnetic card for holding the card between the guide members.
The positioning means may alternatively include springs to fix the card by holding the longitudinal edges of the card therebetween.
The positioning means as described above, however, involve the following problems.
In the case of the fixed guide members, an additional space of several millimeters is left, for play, between the guide members and the card inserted for facilitating the insertion of the card. Because of this play, inaccuracy in the writing or error in the reading may possibly be caused.
On the other hand, in the case of the fixing arrangement using springs, the arrangement itself would be complicated in structure. In addition, the springs must be actuated or deactuated for every insertion or taking out of the card from the apparatus, which again requires a complicated mechanism. Moreover, in this fixing arrangement, the transporting means are separate from the positioning means and the positioning is carried out after completion of the transportation. Thus, there is a substantial time lag between the insertion of the card into the reader/writer apparatus and the initiation of the reading or writing.
The invention has also been made to obviate the problems as described above, and it is a second object of the present invention to provide a reader/writer apparatus for an optical memory card provided with a practically useful card holder which includes a transporting mechanism for transporting the optical memory card independently of the moving mechanism for the reading/writing head, which enables accurate positioning with a simple structure without providing any play and is capable of starting the reading/writing soon after the insertion of the card into the reader/writer apparatus.
Since the reading and writing, for the optical memory card, are carried out by utilizing a light beam, an error may possibly be caused in the reading or writing when dust adheres to a data storing face of the card. Especially, since the optical memory card is made so as to be suitable easy handling, it is likely to be covered with dust. Therefore, it becomes necessary to remove the dust prior to the reading or writing.
However, the conventional card holders have never had means for removing the dust from the optical memory card.
It is therefore a third object of the present invention to provide a card holder which is capable of removing the dust adhering to the data recording face of the optical memory card prior to the reading or writing of data.